Mr Böhmermann was defiant in his first public appearance since the case was dropped.

In a pre-recorded video statement which veered wildly in tone, he made light of the controversy and gave a bizarre rendition of the Monty Python song Always Look on the Bright Side of Life complete with a surprisingly convincing English accent.

But he also signalled he was not prepared to back down and renewed his attack on Mr Erdogan.

“Compared to what critical journalists, satirists and opposition figures are going through in Turkey, all this fuss about the Böhmermann Affair is a big sad joke in itself,” he said.

“Meanwhile, their relatives in Germany are afraid to speak freely on the phone, because they fear reprisals against their loved ones in Turkey.”

Prosecutors accepted Mr Böhmermann’s argument the poem was satirical and not meant to be taken seriously.

As the decision was announced this week, the Turkish authorities suspended nearly 13,000 police officers from duty, detained dozens of air force officers and closed down a TV station in a renewed crackdown against dissent.

Mr Erdogan’s supporters have reacted furiously to the collapse of the case. The pro-government Turkish newspaper Sabah described it as “a scandal”.

“Obviously some people can throw limitless s*** around with impunity,” Bülent Döğer of the Union of European Turkish Democrats, an organisation of EU residents of Turkish origin, said.

Laywers for Mr Erdogan have reportedly lodged an appeal against the decision.

Meanwhile Mr Böhmermann is still facing a civil lawsuit brought by the Turkish president over the poem.